District of Maine
District of Maine | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Massachusetts | |||||||||
1780–1820 | |||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | October 25, 1780 | ||||||||
• British occupation of the east | September 1814–February 1815 | ||||||||
March 6, 1820 | |||||||||
• Statehood | March 15, 1820 | ||||||||
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Today part of | Maine |
The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and before American independence had been part of the British province of Massachusetts Bay.
Colonial history
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1760 | 20,000 | — |
1770 | 31,257 | +56.3% |
1780 | 49,138 | +57.2% |
1790 | 96,540 | +96.5% |
1800 | 151,719 | +57.2% |
1810 | 228,705 | +50.7% |
1820 | 298,335 | +30.4% |
Source: 1760–1780;[1] 1790–1820[2] |
Originally settled in 1607 by the Plymouth Company, the coastal area between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers, as well as an irregular parcel of land between the headwaters of the two rivers, became the province of Maine in a 1622 land grant. In 1629, the land was split, creating an area between the Piscataqua and Merrimack rivers which became the province of New Hampshire. It existed through a series of land patents made by the kings of England during this era, and included New Somersetshire, Lygonia, and Falmouth. The province was incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 1650s, beginning with the formation of York County, Massachusetts, which extended from the Piscataqua River to just east of the mouth of the Presumpscot River in Casco Bay. Eventually, its territory grew to encompass nearly all of present-day Maine. The large size of the county led to its division in 1760 through the creation of Cumberland and Lincoln counties.
The
District history
When Massachusetts adopted its state constitution in 1780, it created the District of Maine to manage its northernmost counties, bounded on the west by the Piscataqua River and on the east by the Saint Croix River. By 1820, the District had been further subdivided with the creation of Hancock, Kennebec, Oxford, Penobscot, Somerset, and Washington counties.[citation needed]
A movement for Maine statehood began as early as 1785, and in the following years, several conventions were held to effect this. Starting in 1792 five popular votes were taken but all failed to reach the necessary majorities.[3] During the War of 1812, British and Canadian forces occupied a large portion of Maine including everything from the Penobscot River east to the New Brunswick border with the goal of annexing them to Canada as the Colony of New Ireland.[4] A weak response by Massachusetts to this occupation and possible British annexation contributed to increased calls in the district for statehood.[citation needed]
Statehood
The Massachusetts General Court passed enabling legislation on June 19, 1819, separating the District of Maine from the rest of the Commonwealth.[5] The following month, on July 19, voters in the district approved statehood by 17,091 to 7,132.
County | For statehood[6] | For status quo[6] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | PCT | Votes | PCT | |
Cumberland | 3,315 | 70.4% | 1,394 | 29.6% |
Hancock | 820 | 51.9% | 761 | 48.1% |
Kennebec | 3,950 | 86.0% | 641 | 14.0% |
Lincoln | 2,523 | 62.2% | 1,534 | 37.8% |
Oxford | 1,893 | 77.5% | 550 | 22.5% |
Penobscot | 584 | 71.7% | 231 | 28.3% |
Somerset | 1,440 | 85.9% | 237 | 14.1% |
Washington | 480 | 77.7% | 138 | 22.3% |
York | 2,086 | 55.9% | 1,646 | 44.1% |
Total: | 17,091 | 70.6% | 7,132 | 29.4% |
The results of the election were presented to the
At the time of Maine’s request for statehood, there were an equal number of free and slave states. Pro-slavery members of the United States Congress saw the admission of another free state, Maine, as a threat to the balance between slave and free states. They would support statehood for Maine only if Missouri Territory, where slavery was legal, would be admitted to the Union as a slave state. Maine became the nation's 23rd state on March 15, 1820, following the Missouri Compromise, which allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave-holding state and Maine as a free state.[7]
References
- ^ "Colonial and Pre-Federal Statistics" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. p. 1168.
- ^ Forstall, Richard L. (ed.). Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990 (PDF) (Report). United States Census Bureau. p. 4. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ "Maine's Path to Statehood". PR51st.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
- ^ "New Ireland: How Maine almost became part of Canada at the end of the War of 1812". National Post. September 3, 2014.
- ^ a b "Official Name and Status History of the several States and U.S. Territories". TheGreenPapers.com.
- ^ a b c The Maine Register and United States' Almanac for the Year of Our Lord 1820, p. 72
- ^ This article incorporates public domain material from Today in History – March 15: The Pine Tree State. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 30, 2017.